KNM: Volume 13 Chapter 7

KNM: Volume 13 Chapter 7

This chapter was brought to you by AnmesicCat, and StellarAshes.

A Dragon’s Duel between Father and Son

Baolilong turned into a beautiful and elegant Dragon, and carried everyone towards the largest training ground. Although the Dragon Emperor had not announced who their opponent was, Kaiser and others had already guessed it would be Miluo. Since Miluo’s body size was no different than that of a small mountain, so of course they needed a large arena.

“Baolilong, listen to me. You must not lose, understand?” Kaiser really could not think of a good way to make Baolilong, with its childish personality, to take this fight seriously, so he had to use a harsher tone… Truth was, the situation was rather serious, so he was simply being completely honest.

Baolilong flew as it stared at Kaiser with its pink eyes, but to be covered in confusion.

“Baolilong…” Kaiser was a bit hesitant to tell the consequences of the situation to a child, but if Baolilong gave up easily, then Liola would be in a terrible situation.

He took a deep breath, and said, “If you lose, your papa will die.”

The flying suddenly became very unstable, but luckily everyone was already expecting it. Purity was already sitting on Flames, but strangely Daylight was not on Flames’ back. Baolilong was carrying the two Magicians who knew Levitation: Kaiser and Meinan. However, even though they could fly, their faces were still a bit pale from the unstable flight.

“Why would papa die? Papa won’t die. Kaiser is lying!”

As Baolilong asked the question emotionally, its snow-white Dragon body also began to shake left and right. Kaiser tried to hold back his nausea as he thought to himself, ‘The little runt actually knows to ask for reason; it has really grown, but now it’s harder to fool, tsk!’

“Baolilong, did you see how hard we tried to win yesterday?” Meinan suddenly opened his mouth.

“I did see.” Baolilong nodded with its long Dragon head.

“That’s because this match is very, very important to your papa.” Meinan said with a very serious tone. He believed Baolilong was old enough to discuss the complications of the matter truthfully. Rather than lying to it, Meinan decided it was better to speak the truth.

“If he loses this match, he will… become not himself anymore.”

“Baolilong doesn’t understand.” Baolilong pouted. Papa was papa, why would it become not papa?

“Do you like the ice cold Liola?” Kaiser asked, “The personally he had when you were both living inside the palace?”

Baolilong pouted, “No, that papa is vicious, and even beats Baolilong.”

“If you lose this match, your papa might even… become worse than back then.” Kaiser suddenly remembered what he said to Mizerui; it was a decision he was hesitant to make, because he did not want to see “Liola not being Liola”.

Baolilong frowned, and its voice already sounded like weeping, “No! I don’t want papa to get worse.”

“Then, please, you must win. You can’t lose!” Kaiser held his fist tightly. He really did not want to demand this of Baolilong; after all, it was only a child, and its opponent was far too strong. But if he did not talk like this, how was it to make the childish Baolilong face this seriously?

“Okay, Baolilong will definitely win.” Baolilong nodded seriously.

Seeing this, Meinan and Kaiser both began to tell it what to do, “Baolilong, take the Dragon Cross Necklace and your mother’s picture, then…”

Baolilong listened seriously while answering, “Mm, mm, okay…”

Before they spoke for long, the Knights before them began to fly downwards. Were they already there? Kaiser looked forward, but he did not see any black mountains; so where was Miluo?

Baolilong would not think that much; instead it simply followed the lead to fly down, and slowly landed on the ground. As soon as it landed, Kaiser and Meinan got off Baolilong’s back. The two of them looked left and right, even raising their heads to look at the sky. However, they were not able to see a trace of a Black Dragon even after the necks started to get sore.

“If you are looking for a Black Dragon, try looking back on the ground.”

The Dragon Emperor’s elegant voice could be heard, and pulled the two people’s attention. They looked towards the Dragon Emperor, only to notice a man dressed in black standing next to the Dragon Emperor. His hair was dark as night, and his red eyes that should have been filled with a burning flame was now nothing but cold and aloof. If one were to look closer, they could see a vague familiarity to Baolilong’s looks.

A figure suddenly collided into Kaiser’s chest. The momentum made Kaiser grunt, and then he had “intimate contact” with the ground. Seeing Kaiser suddenly fall to the ground, Meinan was surprised. When he looked, he finally realized, the human-shaped Baolilong was sitting on top of Kaiser. It looked at Kaiser and Meinan with innocent eyes, even though it knew it had done something wrong.

“You little bastard… no, you’re not little anymore, you big bastard.” Kaiser gritted his teeth as he pushed Baolilong aside. He sat up, rubbed his wounded chest, and yelled, “Do you really think you’re still a little child?! I almost got flattened by you.”

Baolilong pouted. It was just forgetting it had grown up “again”.

Kaiser coughed a few times, and thought about the little guy who would be the going on the arena soon, so it was not the time to make it mad. He immediately threw a smile on his face, “It’s fine! It’s fine! Just a light tackle; I, Kaiser, am strong a sturdy, and this little collision won’t stop me, cough, cough… Uh, I just choked on my own saliva, hahaha cough…”

Baolilong looked at Kaiser with confusion; Kaiser was laughing strangely. He was laughing while coughing and his face was getting red from it. Baolilong went over to pat Kaiser’s back like a good little kid, but because it accidentally patted too hard, it almost caused Kaiser to face-plant into the dirt again. Kaiser angrily grabbed Baolilong’s face, and began to pull it to the left and right…

“Mm… Mm it hurts.”

Baolilong protested with tears in its eyes, and its hands would not rest either; it grabbed Kaiser’s face. Kaiser yelled loudly, and began to pull even harder.

Kaiser rolled his eyes, and thought, ‘Why don’t you tell Baolilong to go easier? I feel like my face is about to be pulled off.’

Meinan looked helplessly at the man and child… or rather, someone who was a teenager. They were already at the stadium, but still bickering like this; how childish of them!

“Dragon Emperor, Your Highness, how do you want this match to be decided?” Meinan had no other choice, so he left the human the Dragon play the face-pulling game, while he went and took care of business.

The Dragon Emperor smiled and shook his head, “There are no rules; they can be either in the Dragon form or the human form. If a side lands on the ground and not able to get up within ten seconds, or if the side surrenders, then that side loses.”

“I understand.” Meinan forced a smile. This rule was far better than surrendering or death… but did this mean the Dragon Emperor was completely confident he would win, so he did not need any sinister plans?

“Then let’s have the two contestants have a friendly handshake.” The Dragon Emperor suggested.

Meinan looked towards Miluo, whose face was still devoid of expression. He yelled at the two who were still playing, “Baolilong, come greet your papa.”

Baolilong looked over; with red cheeks, it pouted and complained, “No, he’s old papa, not papa.”

Although it was still complaining, Baolilong still obediently walked towards Miluo and did what Meinan and Kaiser asked it to do: it tried to hug Miluo while yelling, “Papa, I am Baolilong.”

First attack, family love, the call of his own child. Kaiser and others secretly thought, ‘Go Baolilong, go! Use your pure and cute looks to wake Miluo up!’

Unfortunately, Miluo already took a step to the side while Baolilong was trying to hug him, which made Baolilong grab nothing but air. With a bang, Baolilong fell face-first into the ground.

‘God…’ Meinan shook his head, and Kaiser buried his face into his palm, trying not to look.

“Mm… it hurts.” Baolilong struggled to get up, and its pink eyes were filled with tears. It blinked a few times, and shook its head. After wiping away the tears, Baolilong stood up firmly.

Baolilong took out the Dragon Cross Necklace on its shoulder, and held it up to Miluo like it was offering him some rare treasure, then it said, “Papa, look! This is mama.”

Miluo looked at Baolilong from the corner of his eyes, but did not speak a word.

“And, and…” Baolilong took out a wrinkled picture from its pocket, “This is papa and mama’s picture, but the one in the middle is not Baolilong.”

Baolilong reached out its hands but then pulled it back immediately. It looked at the picture and pondered, wondering why the one in the center was not itself. It raised its head and asked curiously, “Old papa, why was Baolilong not in it?”

‘You’re doing great, Baolilong!’ Kaiser cheered in his mind. This was not something he or Meinan or taught it, and he did not expect Baolilong to adapt this well.

“Mama never comes out of the necklace. And this morning, after calling Baolilong, she stopped talking again.” Baolilong pouted, and kept complaining, “Old papa is a big idiot. You never hug Baolilong, and always run off quickly.”

Baolilong… Kaiser, Purity, and Meinan were all staring at the pouting and tearing Baolilong. So… this was not it adapting to the situation, but instead how it truly felt. It made sense, considering it was abandoned in the Dragon Empire, without the company of its father or mother, it must have been lonely.

Miluo’s eyes flashed a hint of softness, but because everyone’s attention was drawn by Baolilong’s words, no one noticed this change.

“Such touching love between father and child.” The Dragon Emperor smiled lightly, “But the match must go on. Have the father and child spent enough time talking yet?”

Meinan glared at the Dragon Emperor. Having only a father, he was fully aware of how Baolilong must have felt, and that was also the reason why he could never forgive the Dragon Emperor for forcing Baolilong to fight with its father.

Seeing Miluo still was emotionless, Baolilong mustered the last of its courage, and yelled, “Old papa.”

Kaiser and others were all cheering for Baolilong in their hearts. ‘Hurry and take out your most pitiful and cute side, so Miluo would be reluctant to let you g. Then, he can escape the hypnosis… and we would win without fighting, hehehe!‘ The three began fantasizing the same thing without talking to one another about it.

“Old papa…” Baolilong raised its head to look at Miluo, and complained while pouting its mouth, “Why haven’t you surrendered! Baolilong already did everything Kaiser and Meinan said, old papa should surrender now.”

If Miluo had a bit of softness before, it was now completely gone. He flew a large distance back, and stared coldly at Baolilong. The latter saw such cold eyes, and cringed a bit, and turned around to look at Kaiser and others bewilderedly.

Kaiser and Meinan were also clueless. Since the attack with family intimacy failed, other than a real fight, there seemed to be no other options.

“Is there anything else we could do…” Meinan began to ask Kaiser. He really did not want Baolilong to have to fight with its biological father. Baolilong was still a little child, and despite it having the appearance of a teenager, its mindset was still that of a seven year-old.

Asking a seven year old child to battle and the opponent was its biological father; this was far… far too cruel.

“Baolilong is too pitiful.” Purity’s wept.

Truthfully, Kaiser was a bit hesitant, but this was Liola’s last chance, so should they really give up without even trying?

Kaiser and Meinan turned to look at Baolilong. Baolilong seemed like it did not know what it should do: in one moment it scratched its face, in another it would look at Miluo, in yet another moment it would look at the ants crawling by on the ground, and when it reached its foot out, it stepped on the ant. All in all, it was as though Baolilong had ADHD, and could not settle down.

“I-I’m really worried.” Purity looked at Baolilong in the arena, almost felt sorry enough for it to rush up and bring it back.

Meinan also locked his eyebrows.

Kaiser, on the other hand, had already buried his face in his palm, because he could not bear to watch, hoping that Baolilong would not lose in just one move…

“Then, let’s start with the match.” The Dragon Emperor today seemed unusually laid back. He did not seem to be in a rush to begin the match, and even after the match began, his eyes would often look away from the arena.

After Baolilong heard the signal to start, its little brain did not think about anything. Things like when it should attack and what the opponent’s weaknesses might be were not at all in its head. As soon as it heard “start”, Baolilong naturally began to attack.

It opened its mouth, and a bolt of electricity shot out.

Miluo quickly jumped, and easily avoided the attack. A black ray came out of his right hand, but the attack did not seem very powerful. It was probably used to gauge Baolilong’s abilities.

“Ahhh! Baolilong, dodge!” Purity grabbed her cheeks and screamed, almost having to close her eyes to stop watching.

However, Baolilong did indeed dodge the attack like a master, and also it was just in the nick of time, missing the attack by the most miniscule of distances. Kaiser vaguely felt this action looked familiar, as if he had seen it before.

“Baolilong’s Highness seemed to be stronger than we imagine; it is indeed the Dragon with a master such as Liola.” Flames was now standing next to Kaiser in its human-form.

“Ah! Right, that looks just like Liola!” Kaiser suddenly realized. Didn’t that Assassin love to use this scary way to dodge? So Baolilong was imitating him!

“The Dragon and its master affect each other quite a bit.” Flames knew these three did not have a Dragon, and therefore did not understand such matters, so it took up role of explainer, “Especially the bond between Liola and Baolilong’s Highness, because they both signed a Dragon bond, the effect they have on each other runs even deeper.”

“Are you saying Baolilong might have learnt Liola’s Kung Fu?” Kaiser asked with extreme anticipation. If that was the case, then there might still be some hope for this match.

Flames broke everyone’s hope by shaking his head, and said, “Kung Fu isn’t something you learn by simply affecting one another, just that Baolilong’s Highness might try to imitate Liola’s way of fighting and his moves.”

Kaiser and others’ faces sank again, but as soon as they heard something happening in the arena, their eyes were immediately fixed on the arena. On one hand, they were worried about Baolilong losing, but on the other hand, they were worried Baolilong might get seriously injured.

Baolilong was actually performing even better than Kaiser had thought. Under Liola’s influence, Baolilong’s dodging skills were excellent. Even though Miluo’s black rays were incredibly fast, Baolilong was always able to dodge it in the nick of time.

Perhaps Baolilong did not know Liola’s Kung Fu, nor understand things like Ki or Windborne Blade, but dodging depended on basic attributes like perception and speed, and basic attributes… were exactly the things the master would have the most influence on the Dragon.

With Liola’s influence, Baolilong, who had evolved once already, was developing unconsciously towards speed and agility. In addition, having thin and elegant bodies, Sacred White Dragons were indeed fit to develop this way. This was why Baolilong, despite not being completely grown up, would have unsurpassable flying speed compared to other Dragons.

Although Baolilong could avoid defeat by relying on its speed, but it was also because Miluo was not completely serious yet. Miluo was simply trying to see where Baolilong’s strength lies, and by now he was more and more certain that speed was the advantage Baolilong held.

‘It’s time to take this fight seriously.’ The Black Dragon King’s red eyes tightened, and suddenly raised both of his hands. A dozen black rays shot out from each of arms, and headed towards Baolilong, surrounding it. Baolilong was initially a bit nervous, but it thought about papa. To papa, this was nothing, if it was papa…

Baolilong’s eyes shone with determination. It concentrated all of its attention on the black rays, and it felt the darkness within the black rays. Gradually, everything around Baolilong seemed to become grayscale, and only the black ray was of a different color, which made it seem very obvious in such a gray world.

Everything seemed to be happening in slow motion. Crouch, dodged three rays, back tumble, and another five rays. The place it landed had two more, so it changed postures in mid-air, making it land slightly back. It lowered its waist, and dodged the ray headed towards its head. There were many more dodging actions that followed. Unknowingly, Baolilong suddenly realized, the many black rays that looked impossible to dodge were now successfully dodged.

“Wow, damn… a-am I looking at Liola?” Kaiser’s eyes widened and jaws dropped. He thought these kinds of tricky moves could only be seen in Liola’s fights.

“Baolilong’s really great.” Purity had her hands covering her face because she did not want to watch, but she could not help herself from peeking through the cracks of her fingers. Coincidentally, she saw the trick moves Baolilong did to avoid all the rays.

Miluo was obviously a bit surprised as well. He had thought this move would have been enough to defeat Baolilong, but he did not expect Baolilong to come out of this completely unscathed, and even using faster speed and more agile moves than he had observed before.

“More powerful than I imagined.” Miluo licked his lips, beginning to think this match had gotten more interesting.

Meinan rolled his eyes at Kaiser, “Liola still knew how to talk when he was under hypnosis.”

“Right, almost forgot.” Kaser scratched his face. He must have wanted the victory far too much.

Two intense black shadows emitted from both of Miluo’s hands, and the black shadows spread around the surroundings like lightning. Miluo revealed a sinister smile, “Little runt, the big moves are coming. Surrender now if you want to live.”

Baolilong glanced at the black shadow in Miluo’s hands, and did not think anything about whether it could dodge the attack. Instead, it hurled a lightning ball towards Miluo, forcing Miluo to change position, and the black lightning in his hand seemed to have stagnated. The moment he moved, a few more lightning balls headed towards where he stood. Because lightning balls weren’t a large-scale Magic, Baolilong almost did not need any time to create several of them, but Miluo’s spell would take at least a dozen of seconds to prepare.

The crowd looked at Baolilong, with an innocent look on its face, crazily threw lightning balls. Miluo, while preparing for the large-scale Magic, could do nothing but dodge, and he could not catch a break while he was dodging to continue charging the black lightning in his hand. At that moment, it looked like Baolilong was forcing Miluo into a corner on the arena.

After a while, Miluo looked infuriated. A Dragon roar came out from his throat, completely abandoning the black lightning in his hands, and decided to use the same strategy as Baolilong had used. Black rays appeared again, and this time, he was serious and no longer underestimating his opponent. The black rays exploded, and the whole arena was covered densely with the rays.

“Since you’re good at dodging,” Miluo smiled sinisterly, “I won’t even give you room to dodge.”

Baolilong was indeed stuck: there were black rays next to his hands and feet. Never mind dodging, it could not even move!

“Baolilong!” Purity saw Baolilong acting like a bug falling into a spider’s web, trapped within the black rays, and she almost fainted.

Miluo seemed to be intentionally toying with Baolilong. Instead of making all the black rays attack Baolilong at the same time, he playfully made the rays around Baolilong’s leg collide with its calf. Long blood marks immediately appeared on Baolilong’s white legs.

“Ow…” Tears filled up in Baolilong’s eyes, but seeing Miluo’s sinister laugh, it stopped crying, and tried hard to blink the tears away.

Seeing Baolilong trying to hold back its tears, Miluo maliciously shifted the black rays next to Baolilong’s face, leaving behind another blood mark on its clean egg-shaped face.

The pain made tears fall out of Baolilong’s eyes, and this infuriated Baolilong. It yelled angrily, “Bad papa! It hurts!”

Angry, Baolilong did not care about anything, and electricity began to flow out of its body.

“W-wait…” Miluo was a bit shocked. Did the little runt not know that the collision between black rays and electricity would result in…

Bang! … Explosion!

“My God!”

Kaiser opened his mouth to yell, and dropped to the ground with an ugly gesture, waiting for the heat wave from the explosion. However, he could not feel the heat from the explosion nor the sensation of getting hit. Purity snapped, “Stupid Kaiser! Did you forget Meinan is here?”

Right! He had forgotten the human-shaped protective shield was right next to him, so what was he afraid of? Kaiser got up from the ground embarrassingly, he suddenly remembered, and yelled, “Crap! Where is Baolilong?”

Meinan kept staring at the center of the explosion, the place where Baolilong and Miluo stood. The explosion caused the arena to be filled with smoke, and he could not discern what had happened. This kind of waiting made everyone nervous, and Kaiser began to murmur, “Crap, crap, if something happens to Baolilong, Liola would tear me into pieces.”

In the midst of the smoke, a white figure rushed out, and flew into the sky. Then, bolts of lightning wider than a person were shot out from its mouth. The bolts pierced out of the sky, making the smoke-filled arena even more destroyed than it was before.

“Baolilong!” Kaiser yelled excitedly.

The white figure was Baolilong in its Dragon form. When the explosion happened, Baolilong instantly turned into a small Dragon, and its Dragon scale naturally had far higher defense than its human form. After the explosion, it used the time to transform into a large Dragon, fly into the sky, and began to use its lightning attacks.

Although it sounded like a complex strategy, but Baolilong’s thoughts were quite simple. When the explosion occurred, it suddenly felt like the explosion was hurting, so it immediately turned into a small Dragon, and did so to make the pain go away. After the explosion, it felt old papa was very detestable, making Baolilong hurt so much, so it got angry, and used its normal way of attack, also known as flying into the air and cook the enemies on the ground with bolts of lightning.

“Bomb away! Bomb away!” Kaiser and others yelled excitedly. Having thought Baolilong might have lost in the first move, they were now ecstatic that Baolilong performed much better than they had expected during the battle.

Baolilong did indeed bomb away the best it could, and the lightning pretty much continued endlessly for a while. However, after a while, it stopped. On one hand, it was tired, and on another, old papa was still, after all, papa, and Baolilong’s heart still had a sensation that it should not do this, so it did not continue to bomb.

The stage got quiet, and Miluo did not seem to make a sound or move. As a Black Dragon King, could he have lost so easily?

Impossible, everyone thought in the stadium. Never mind the Black Dragon King. Even for a relatively strong matured Dragon, it would be possible to survive those attacks. Therefore, the King of the battle race of Dragons could not have possibly lost like this.

Everyone’s guess was correct. From the smoke of the explosion, a body darker than the darkest of nights slowly emerged, and it grew bigger and bigger: from the size of a person, to the size of a building… until it finally became a dark mountain. The smoke completely cleared, showing the true form of the mountain. It was indeed Miluo’s giant body, with each of his scale as large as half a person, and stronger than steel.

In the middle of darkness worse than a night of despair, a pair of giant eyes opened — a pair of red eyes with a sense of coldness. The thing reflecting from his eyes was none other than Baolilong in the air.

“I have a question, why would Miluo be especially big?”

Kaiser tilted his head, and asked the quiet flames. This body size was far too different from other Dragons. Good thing Miluo did not have a master, because if he did… damn! Could this be even be called a mount? They might as well build a palace on top of him.

Flames bit its lips, and said helplessly, “Rumor has it that when the Black Dragon King was courting the Sacred White Dragon, Bairui, he said he was about a thousand years old, but truthfully…”

“Are you saying that guy lied about his age and pretended to be young to pick up chicks?” Kaiser immediately followed up.

Flames did a “I don’t know either” shrug.

“Crap…” Meinan suddenly said.

“What’s wrong?” Kaiser immediately withdrew his playfulness, and turned his head to ask.

“Baolilong’s lightning doesn’t seem to hurt Miluo at all.”

Meinan bit his lips tightly as he watched the situation in the arena. When Miluo was still “growing,” Baolilong took the opportunity to shoot many bolts of lightning. However, it seemed to have been completely useless. When the lightning stroke Miluo’s scale, it did not even leave a single mark.

Miluo did not seem to care about Baolilong’s attack, and let it attack freely. He did not seem to be hurt, or even itched, nor did he seem to launch any counterattacks, as though he was enjoying the scene of Baolilong being helpless.

Kaiser knew things were going bad when he saw this. Miluo was practically treating Baolilong’s attacks as tingles, so what would happen when Miluo begins to attack? He did not expect Baolilong would be able to treat Miluo’s attacks the same way. Instead, he was very worried about Baolilong’s safety.

Baolilong’s attacks may not have hurt, but it kept up the stamina. It kept bombing for a long time, from the early morning when the match began, until now when the sun was high up in the sky. The temperature was already fairly high, along with the explosions caused by Baolilong’s attacks, the temperature made everyone sweat endlessly.

Kaiser wiped away his sweat, raised his head to look at the sky, only to realize the sun was already straight up in the sky. The two Dragons had been fighting for a whole morning. Kaiser vaguely felt something was wrong. He looked at the arena, and Miluo still did not begin his attack. So where did this feeling come from exactly?

Kaiser asked Flames next to him, “Flames, is Daylight still over at where Mizerui is?”

Flames nodded. In order for Mizerui to know the situation in the Dragon duel, they intentionally asked Daylight to stay over there. Truth was, the main reason for doing this was, the moment when they lose, Mizerui would immediately know, and he could take Liola to run away, or…

“Do me a favor and ask them if there’s something strange going on with Liola.” Kaiser did not ask if Liola was awake, because if he was, he would have rushed over in an instant, so there was no need to ask. He must be still sleeping on a bed.

Flames agreed, and immediately used telepathy to ask Kaiser’s question. After a while, it answered, “There is nothing different with Liola. He still looks to be sleeping. Master wanted me to ask you, are there any problems?”

Kaiser thought a moment, and told his suspicions to Flames, “I feel like the Dragon Emperor doesn’t seem rushed at all today. Also, Miluo seems to be severely slacking off, but the Dragon Emperor doesn’t seem to care at all. This is completely different from his nervous attitude yesterday, and it seems very strange…”

Kaiser looked at Flames, thinking it was transmitting the message to Daylight, but after a moment of silence, it suddenly said, “Kaiser, I have been feeling like the Dragon Emperor is waiting for something, and he doesn’t seem to be concerned with anything.”

Kaiser paused. First, it was because he had no idea Flames would express its own opinion, and then he thought about what Flames said. Indeed, the Dragon Emperor seemed to be waiting for something, and he did not seem to care about the outcome of this fight.

He looked at the Dragon Emperor from afar. Was that really the case? Or perhaps the Dragon Emperor was far too confident Miluo would win? After all, no matter which angle one looks at the fight, Miluo was sure to win.

But thinking about it some more, Kaiser’s face sank. He moaned, “But it doesn’t matter if the Dragon Emperor is waiting for something, or too confident Miluo would win… d-doesn’t this end in the same way? Crap!”